scherzo

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Italian scherzo "joke, play", from scherzare "to joke, jest" from Old Italian scherzare, from Lombardic *skerzan "to jump merrily, enjoy oneself, jest" from Proto-Germanic *skirtanan (“to hop, jump”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerǝd- (“to dance, jump”). Akin to Middle High German scherzen "to frolic, jump merrily, hop up and down" (German scherzen "to joke"; Scherz "joke, sport"), Norwegian skjerta "to joke".

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈskɛːtsəʊ/

Noun

scherzo (plural scherzos or scherzi)

1. (music) A piece of music or a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony; especially, a piece of music played in a playful manner.
   • 1980, Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers:

     At seven Val knocked – three shorts and one long, out of the scherzo of Beethoven’s Fifth – and I rushed to open.

Translations

music

• Italian: scherzo (it)

See also

• scherzando

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Italian

Etymology

From scherzare "to joke, play, jest" from Old Italian scherzare, from Lombardic *skerzan "to jump merrily, enjoy oneself, jest" from Proto-Germanic *skirtanan (“to hop, jump”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerǝd- (“to dance, jump”). Akin to Middle High German scherzen "to frolic, jump merrily, hop up and down" (German scherzen "to joke"; Scherz "joke, sport"), Norwegian skjerta "to joke".

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈskertso/

Noun

scherzo m (plural scherzi)

1. joke, jest, trick, hoax
2. (something easy to do) joke, trifle, cinch
3. (music) scherzo

Related terms

• scherzando
• scherzare
• scherzoso

Verb

scherzo

1. first-person singular present indicative of scherzare